NYYC American Magic PATRIOT Day 35 Summary

Tom Slingsby was back onboard Patriot today and after a period of straight-lining in recent sessions, the manoeuvres were back with a vengeance. A total of 48 tacks and gybes were thrown in during a thorough shake-down of the battery of new sail controls that have been implemented with some remarkable stats. 92% was the number for successful foil-to-foil tacks, and 90% for foil-to-foil gybes. Slingsby and Paul Goodison had Patriot dancing like Fred Astaire today going back-to-back on some manoeuvres as if they were escaping the clutches of an Emirates Team New Zealand slam-dunk or a Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli pre-start. It was electric to witness and yet another real step forward for the team. The cyclor team were again absent today, awaiting some “shed testing” of new equipment according to Paul Goodison and with the crew reduced, American Magic were once again employing stored power to control the sails and foils with no flailing grinding arms or the familiar bob of cyclists. A nod to the future of the Cup? Perhaps. But Goodison alluded to the switch over to electrics saying: “We have some upgrades coming to the hydro system…this is day two or three that we've changed the power over a little bit but once the shed testing is complete with the new upgrades that are coming onboard, I think the cyclists will be back on tomorrow or the day after and hopefully we will aim to repeat a bunch of the aero tests that we did (today) with the new systems, with manual power.” Section 41. Reconnaissance a) As a campaign cost reduction measure, COR/D has mutually agreed to cooperatively implement a centralised reconnaissance programme for all teams for the reconnaissance of all Competitors’ AC75 Yachts, AC40 Yachts and LEQ12 yachts including both on-land and on-water imagery (the “Joint Recon Programme”). b) Each team is assigned a two-person Recon Unit to follow their every on-water move, but it's not that simple. The cameras are supplied and identical for all Recon Units. Drones are not allowed, and they can't get that close, plus following a boat and keeping a camera steady at 45 knots isn't that easy to begin with. c) A three minute interview follows each on water day, and teams must answer the Recon Unit's questions while trying not to give too much away. It's a raw, unedited view of the never before seen behind-the-scenes development of a team and their boat to win the oldest trophy in international sports. #AC37Recon #AmericasCup #Barcelona2024